Ever since Virender Sehwag happened to Indian cricket, his impact on upcoming openers in the country was immense. Some modelled their technique around him while most of them wanted to mould ...Full profile

Ever since Virender Sehwag happened to Indian cricket, his impact on upcoming openers in the country was immense. Some modelled their technique around him while most of them wanted to mould their style of play on similar lines. Mayank Agarwal belongs to a blend of these two categories. From his early teenage days, there was immense adulation for strokeplay and elegance that he brought to the table. A stellar performance in the U19 World Cup saw him hog the limelight for the first time and although India were disappointing in the tournament, there was a lot of hope around this man's future.

Mayank started off his domestic career in the T20 format initially in 2010, due to his dashing batsmanship and the IPL contract happened in 2011. Things were happening at a brisk pace for him and it was only a matter of doing the right things from there on. However, the performances were underwhelming to say the least in the IPL while on the domestic front, the numbers were better albeit still nowhere near his true potential. There were flashes of his caliber in display everywhere but also the frustration when he would inevitably throw away a start. Nevertheless, his white-ball game was definitely showing a steady progress.

In the 2014-15 season, Mayank got plagued with fitness issues as the management was clearly not happy with his physique. The result was more focus on training and this in turn apparently helped him up his mental game as well. Trim and in shape, Mayank seemed confident than ever before but it required a career-changing season from somewhere to spike his path forward. That happened in the 2017-18 Ranji Season when he simply went berserk, plundering over a 1000 runs and went on to top the run charts. It was a phenomenal transition to his red-ball game and needless to say, the confidence oozed into the white-ball tournaments where he was already on the rise.

All these performances didn't go unnoticed as he got picked up by the Kings XI Punjab at the 2018 IPL auctions. Many feel that the 2017-18 domestic season may have finally seen the coming of age of Mayank Agarwal. Although in this day and age, competition for spots in the Indian team, particularly in batting gets way too tough, a call up will definitely happen. More so considering the value given to domestic performances by the national selectors in the recent past. However, a one-off season won't do for Mayank, he has to keep the good work flowing and a good IPL season may help.